Gas turbine engines can be used in a wide variety of environments. In some of these environments, air pulled into a gas turbine engine may contain an amount of particulate matter. This particulate matter may include, for example, sand, dirt, dust, salt, or water. This particulate matter can impinge upon internal components of a gas turbine engine and damage or corrode those components, which can therefore shorten the operating life or efficiency of that engine. Accordingly, one aspect of the claimed invention is to provide efficient separation of particulate matter from incoming air, so as to eject this particulate matter from the engine before it reaches damageable internal components.